“We do not!” At the deliberate raising of his brows, I rolled my eyes. “Okay, maybe we do a little, but it doesn’t mean anything.” That seemed like a lie. At least, it did this time. “Or it never used to mean anything. But then you came home and, well,” I lifted my hands to gesture at him, “everything changes when you’re in the room.”
His entire being seemed to react to those words. His arms dropped to his sides. His spine straightened. Even his mouth seemed to form an O of surprised pleasure. A third step brought him within touching distance. “Tell me how it changes.”
I looked everywhere but his face. With his blue eyes and that full mouth and the way his closeness suddenly had my skin prickling with awareness. It was all too much. “Lawrence and I have always gotten under each other’s skin when we’re together, but with you here…” I paused to take a breath, to lick moisture onto my lips before I finished on an exhale. “It’s like you amplify everything.”
“And then you get all hot and bothered?” He crowded me and I started to back up, not too fast, but enough to keep a small gap between us.
“Exactly.” Relief flooded me as the confession passed my lips. Iwasaffected by the duel presence of Connor and Law. Connor was the only person I knew who would ever understand such a thing.
“But you never seem to react that way when it’s only the two of us.” I could sense the frustration beneath his curiosity. “Why is that?”
I considered his question carefully before I replied, “Maybe it’s because I don’t have to be on my guard when I’m with you. Being around Law has always made me antsy. I can relax with you and be myself.”
“I think perhaps you’re being yourself with him, too,” he suggested. “It’s just a different part of you. The sexy, naughty part. I’ve never seen that side before, but I want to learn how to bring it out in you.”
“But we’re different.” I stopped when I bumped into the door joining our room to the one next door. One hand flattened against the cool surface, while the other latched onto the doorknob, desperate for anything I could grip on to. “I’m so comfortable with you.”
He snorted. “You know, you’re the only woman in the world who has ever said that to me. It’s sweet really.” Lifting one hand, he touched the tip of a single finger to my chin before trailing it down the front of my throat. “But the thing is, I want to make you uncomfortable,” he said in a low, gravelly voice as his fingertip traced the length of my right clavicle, found the edge of my knitted top. “But only in the best ways.”
He drew the loose material down off my shoulder, teasing the bare skin beneath, and I shivered all over. Fuck, if he didn’t do something soon, I’d be begging him to strip me naked and do whatever the hell he wanted—rehearsal be damned.
“I want you wet and shaking for me, Gabi,” he continued. “I want to taste your moans until you’re begging me to make you come.”
“Connor, I’ve never heard you talk like this before,” I breathed, feeling playful. “I kinda like it.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, but I want to show you.” He smiled broadly, his hands taking hold of my waist. “I think it’s time we get to know each other without manners, and without all the restraints that come with the word platonic.” His hands rose, splayed out around my ribs, and his thumbs stroked the undersides of my breasts. He lowered his face into the crook of my neck, but the gap between our bodies remained. I arched forward, until the tips of my aching breasts brushed against his chest.
“Kiss me, Connor,” I breathed. “I want to know you.”
His head tilted and I closed my eyes in anticipation. Long fingers slid into my hair. I sighed as shivers spread out from every place we touched. How had I not realised how badly I wanted this? My whole body shook with the force of it—the holding back, the letting go. My hands tightened, one on the doorframe, the other on the doorknob. The knob turned slowly. Then, as our lips were about to touch, the door opened.
We stumbled backward, losing our balance. Releasing the handle, I wrapped my arms around Connor, holding on tight as we fell. One of his hands cupped the back of my head. Then we hit the floor. All the breath in my lungs whooshed out as he landed on top of me. The landing wasn’t as crushing as I’d expected. He must have managed to stretch an arm out to take the majority of his weight.
“What the hell?” he cried, lifting the top half of his body off me. “Are you okay?”
Sucking fresh air into my lungs, I nodded. “Yeah. What about you?” At his nod, I lifted my head to look at the room we’d landed in. “That was an adjoining door. It should have been locked!”
He peered down at me with a pained expression. “That would have been ideal, yes. Totally ruined my seduction.”
Our current position hit me all at once. The lower half of Connor’s body still lay on top of me, one of his legs pressed between my thighs, and my body threatened to do a happy dance at the sudden pressure against my aroused flesh. I shifted experimentally and he hissed in a breath, flexing his hips against me. I could feel the hardness of his erection and suddenly I wanted to pull his full weight back down on top of me and pick up exactly where we’d left off, no matter where we were. This whole situation was madness.
I began to laugh at the absurdity of it all, my body convulsing beneath him. “You did say you wanted me shaking beneath you,” I managed to get out.
He let out a strangled moan. “This is not exactly what I had in mind,” he said, which only made me laugh harder.
At that moment, the bathroom door opened and who should walk into the room but Lawrence Miller—wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs and a smile. Connor and I froze, staring up at him with our mouths open.
“I’ve dreamed of the day the two of you would throw yourselves at my feet,” he said, crossing his arms as he stared down at us. “I have to admit, I thought you’d be more graceful about it.”
FIFTEEN
______
LAWRENCE
“Don’t act all innocent with me,” Gabi snapped over her shoulder as she stormed along the path leading to the chapel. “I’m not buying it for a second.”
I followed along behind her, unable to keep the grin off my face. The sky was blue, the grass of the nearby golf course a lush verdant green. A cool breeze blew and in the distance a mother duck led three fat ducklings towards a small lake. Even with Gabi continuing to harangue me for my flaws, which apparently were many and varied, this was truly the closest I’d gotten to a perfect afternoon in years. “I don’t see what the problem is.”
